Hi all, sorry if this has been hashed to death, but I haven't had luck with searching the forum for answers.

I want to start WL, as I will have a Y membership soon, and am wondering if there is any special equipment that a newb would need/want to be able to follow the NROWL program.

For example, can I lift in my running shoes? Do I want/need gloves or some type of back support/belt? Anything I haven't thought of that's a "must have"?

Sorry if these are lame questions..I've been reading and reading, and am suffering from information overload. I just want to budget for these things if I'm going to need them in the near future. Thanks for any replies.

Hi Cheryl! Those aren't lame questions at all, so please don't be embarrassed by asking. The NROLW is a terrific book to start with and I'm sure you're going to get great results!

As for shoes -- I wear running shoes to the gym (Saucony). Running shoes are typically more padded than crosstraining shoes and I'm after padding. They seem to work out well for both cardio and weights.

You definitely don't need or want a belt or back support. Relying on artificial support would defeat the idea of to strengthening your core muscles by doing the full-body exercises in the book. Unless we're powerlifters or deadlifting massive amounts of weight, it's much better to build up our own support systems. The guys wearing weight belts to do bicep curls are a gym joke.

Gloves are optional. DBs can be painful until you build up some calluses, so some people start out with them. I use them because they help my grip and keep my hands from slipping, but we have many members who don't. So it's really a matter of personal preference.

The Y should be able to provide all the other equipment that you need to get started. The only other thing you may need in the future is a pad for the squat bar if your gym doesn't provide them. Many gyms do, but not mine so I bought my own.

Best of luck to you and be sure to come back and tell us how it's going.

I second the running shoes for lifting. I did this mostly out of convenience, I had already been fitted with some really cushy Brooks. I don't use gloves but like Meg said it really is a personal preference. One thing you may want to bring with you is a small notebook and pen to record the exercises you completed as well as the weight used, reps, set, the date, maybe how you were feeling during the session etc. Kind of fun to record this info from the beginning and look back over it in the next few months to a year to see your progress.

I second Lydia on the notebook. My old brain cannot retain the information about how much weight I use for each exercise. What I did was to photocopy the pages from NROLW that show the exercises and sets/reps, plus the blank page to record what you do. I cut them down to fit a smaller 3-ring binder and take them with me every time. In fact, I leave the notebook in my gym bag. Oh, and I also photocopied any exercise that was new to me, or not obvious how to do, so I could refer to the picture/description. In my gym at least, lots of folks walk around with a notebook or clipboard.

I also use running shoes, and definitely always have water and a towel. In my gym, most of what I need to use is in one area, so I find an out-of-everyone's way place to leave water, towel and notebook (in my case a wide windowsill), and then just walk over to them as needed. The 60 seconds between exercises is just right for that.

Welcome to lifting!!

__________________Pat

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." Christopher Robin to Pooh

Thanks, everyone for the welcome, inspiration, and great info. I think I'll try the gloves. I wouldn't have thought of the towel, but that makes sense...skaters need them, too, so that's one I won't have to put on the shopping list. And the notebook..another one I would have missed...thanks!

Now, I have to go back and reread the posts about NROLW, because I can't remember if you all said the book for women was a good one, or if I should get the one for men, or maybe I'm totally confusing myself and mixing this up with a different book/program altogether...there was one where the women's book wasn't the same quality..?

This is what happens when you spend too many hours reading on the computer.

Cheryl, go ahead and get the New Rules Of Lifting For Women. It's just as good as the one for men and really addresses some of our concerns about nutrition and muscle gain. You may be thinking of Body For Life For Women by Pamela Peake, which is generally considered to be an inferior, dumbed-down version of Bill Phillips' Body For Life.

If you go to the jpfitness site that's given in the NRL4W book and search the forums someone has actually created log pages that list out the exercises in each stage. If you e-mail them, they will have you verify that you own the book, and then let you download their blank log pages. The pages (and the folks on that forum, as well as this one ) are just fabulous.